i have started working on a new project a few weeks back, and i have recently picked it up again. I consider myself a decent modeller, and i started this project to hopfully learn more about animation and texturing. I have pretty much finished the model, and i have been trying to UV texture it. I have attached my blend file, becuase i would like some critiques on what i could change. I am trying to get the front part to look like feathers and the back to be that shiny penquin black look. Is this possible to do with a UV texture? or do i need to model two seperate parts and use two seperate materials. I consider myself a noob when it comes to non-procedural texturing PLEASE ANYONE HELP I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO!!! If you dont know what i am talking about, let me know, cuz i know it is confusing.
thanks alot everyone!
note: the image is NOT my rendering it is just a reference for what i am going after
open blend file to see my progress
thanks
I looked at your .blend, after applying your modifiers, I think you’re going to have a bit of trouble animating it with that topography. I would suggest tailor making the topography from the start for your animation purposes. Actually I am not a big fan of subsurf at all. It takes away the control you have over your model and how it is made. You’re better off modelling each part by hand and with a mind to animate it. For instance, the eyebrows you have there after applying, and even before applying the modifiers, are going to be a pain to animate properly. And in a model such as this with limited human facial characteristics, you’re going to want to have things like the eyes, eyebrows and the edges of the mouth as animation-able as possible.
As for UV mapping, it’s quite a simple model so a simple unwrap from side on would do. You could even use project from view.
so how would you suggest modelling it, and how do i get it to be nice and smooth w/o subsurf?
also, uv mapping it isnt a problem, i cant get it to texture shiny black on the black part, and feather/white on the white part. Also, i wasnt really planning on making it fully animatable, because about half way through i realized it would not be easy with that kind of model. But i would just like to pose it in different positions for stills
modelling without subsurf makes animation much easier, but if you say you won´t animate that much, you could do it like almost anyone (also me:) and use a subsurf mod with value 1 and the “set smooth” shading filter. All in all - the better the topology, the less you will have to postwork with subsurf.
for the soft front with fur, you could use a fabric texture with diffuse shading and a Diffusemap (ref value in map to panel) and as footfungus said a spec map (spec, csp and hard value in map to) for the black shiny part.
for your tutorial request : I could only find the german version : http://de.wikibooks.org/wiki/Blender_Dokumentation/_Tutorials/_Texturen/_Texturtypen
maybe someone else can help you with that issue
Or you do it easy and use yafaray or any other modern render machine with simpler material settings, ! (sorry)
your reference doesn’t have the “black eyeliner” so i don’t get that. and the beak should have specularity(at least it should from reference) and also the beak look into color shaders
Two main comments - the beak is a bit too wide. Yours spans the entire face, whereas the reference has white on either side.
Also the light part of the eyes is too small in yours - makes him look a little scary! Other than that it looks grand.
